Vanimo Green MP Belden Namah and his lawyer returned to the National Court today seeking temporary relief by delaying the Leadership Tribunal from convening.
His lawyers filed the notice of motion of November 12 seeking to stay the tribunal reconvening on November 23.
He also seeks to add the Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia as the fourth respondent in the proceeding at the National Court.
His lawyer, Greg Sheppard, moved the motion before Justice David Cannings today, saying the leader will be prejudiced as the reference will be presented to the members of the tribunal when they reconvene.
Sheppard said human rights applies to everyone and ought to be applied equally regardless of their status.
He said parties can come to court every day of the week on a similar application but with new terms seeking temporary relief of the court even before the same court.
Copies of the tribunal’s transcripts were provided to Justice Cannings in this application.
Sheppard said the constitutional issue of the tribunal having jurisdiction to sit must be referred to the Supreme Court as it is a constitutional matter.
The tribunal was appointed by the Chief Justice, who is also involved in one of the allegations Namah is facing before this tribunal.
And his lawyers previously argued in court that the Chief Justice should have disqualified himself from appointing the tribunal and let the next senior judge deal with Namah’s referral from the Public Prosecutor.
A status conference is expected to be held this Friday at the Waigani Court house before the tribunal reconvenes next week Monday (Nov 23).
Lawyer for the tribunal members Laias Kandi said one cannot move the same application before the same court after it has been refused.
He said the relief sought by Namah should be dismissed.
A ruling is expected this Friday.